SANBORN REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

POINTS OF P.R.I.D.E.

A weekly newsletter that promotes our core values of

P ersonalization, R isk-Taking, I ntegrity, D iscovery, and E mpowerment

The school requires parents/guardians to complete back to school forms for each students prior to the first day of school. These forms must be submitted digitally. Please click the button below to complete the forms:

Sanborn Regional High School was recently recognized by Solution Tree for its sustained success in raising student achievement. The school’s successful implementation of the Professional Learning Communities at Work™ process was a major contributing factor in the improved achievement of its students. The high school joins two other schools in the district that are also considered model schools (Memorial Elementary in Newton, and D.J. Bakie School in Kingston).

PLCs are schools and districts in which educators recognize the key to improved learning for students is on-going, job-embedded learning for the adults who serve those students. The three big ideas of a PLC call upon educators to:

Focus on learning.

Build a collaborative culture.

Create a results orientation.

Responding to news of the recognition, Principal Brian M. Stack said, “We are honored to have received this school recognition as it is a true testament to the emphasis that each of our educators has placed on this collaborative teaming model as the best way to improve student achievement.”

Schools are recognized based on strict criteria, including demonstration of a commitment to PLC concepts, implementation of these concepts for at least three years, and clear evidence of improved student learning over that period. Once measurable results can be seen, the school must explain its practices, structures, and culture and submit its application for consideration by the PLC Review Committee.

According to the Champions of PLC at Work™, educators in the schools and districts selected for this recognition have shown “a sustained commitment to helping all of their students achieve at high levels. They have been willing to alter the structure and culture of the organization to reflect their commitment. We applaud them and congratulate them for achieving this very significant milestone on the never-ending PLC journey.”

Recognized model PLC schools are listed on allthingsplc.info, where they share implementation strategies, structures, and performance with other educators interested in improving their schools. Tools for team collaboration, articles and research about PLCs, blog posts, and other related resources are also available on the site. The site was developed and is maintained by Solution Tree, a leading provider of educational strategies and tools that improve staff and student performance. For more than 20 years, Solution Tree resources have helped K–12 teachers and administrators create schools where all children succeed.

We are asking for your support for our 2019 back to school Un-Fundraiser. Simply put, an Un-Fundraiser is a way to donate money without having to sell or buy anything. Isn’t that the best?? 100% of your tax-deductible donation goes directly to the SRHS PTO, and then it goes right to our kids, which is the best place to put it! Where does this money go you might ask? 

Each year, our PTO supports the following kinds of activities:

 

• Starter cash for the in-coming freshmen student activities account

• Classroom grants, up to $250 per teacher, to fund innovative programming

• Scholarships to Sanborn Seniors

• Funds to support class activities such as the Senior Cruise in Boston.

• Senior Success Day

• Teachers’ meals for the open houses & Teacher Appreciation Week

• Strategies for College Presentation for parents

We hope you were able to appreciate the sarcasm and humor in this form of request and we thank you for your time and monetary donation.

Each year, the Sanborn Seminary Trustees provide funds for Sanborn Regional High School teachers to support innovative, student-centered classroom experiences for students. At a meeting this summer, the Trustees met with Principal Brian M. Stack and approved nearly $30,000 in classroom grant proposals submitted by various teachers.

Here is a summary of what was approved:

Exploring STEM with COSI Video Conferences: Submitted by Science Teacher Meghan Petruzzi: $1,100.00 for the purchase of 4 video conferences for upcoming school year.

Thermal Book Binding Supplies to Increase Student Engagement in Writing: Submitted by English Teacher Jules Ryan: $900.00 for the purchase of equipment to allow students to have their writing "published" in a more formal way.

STEM: Submitted by Teachers Jim Enright and Tim Young: $5,000.00 for the purchase of materials to do two STEM projects: Building an electric car, and building a motion flight simulator.

Service Learning Project for At-Risk Students: Submitted by teachers Kathy Giovando, Amanda Bradley, and Josh White: $5,000.00 as a budget to allow the students in the Home Base Program to put on a monthly breakfast for community organizations / retirement communities.

Baileigh 4 Station Hydraulic Ironworker: Submitted by shop teacher Jack Kelly: $7,000.00 for the purchase of equipment for the welding studio.

Lead 'em Up Curriculum for Building Student Athlete Leaders: Submitted by Teacher Brian Gray: $1,200.00 for the purchase of a role model curriculum to be used by the school's Life of a Student leadership club.

Digital Manufacturing Upgrade: Submitted by shop teacher Jack Kelly: $9,400.00 for the purchase of an upgraded CNC machine for the woodshop area (to do engraving).

All of these projects will greatly enhance the programming at the school in new and exciting ways. As a school community, we are truly appreciative of this generous gift from the Sanborn Seminary Trustees.

Sanborn Regional High School is pleased to announce it has received a $9,770 STEM grant from the Toshiba America Foundation (TAF). These funds will support the Find a Fungi, Print a Parasite to increase biotechnology skills/literacy within the science programs. Science teacher Meghan Petruzzi took the lead in developing the grant application for this project.

This grant will fund the purchase of a 3D bioprinter and curriculum. With the 3D Bioprinter, students will be able to experience many different 3D print technologies from hardware to cell biology. The 3D printer plus the miniPCRs and Blue Gel Electrophoresis machines (from the Lowe’s grant) will allow students to deeply explore their passion of bioscience to the fullest extent. Project activities will center around the 3D bioprinter, PCR and Blue Gel electrophoresis. Labs will include explorations of enzyme reactions, assays, and kinetics. With the bioprinter, students will observe antimicrobial screening which is a concept that ties directly to one of the world’s biggest health concerns, the rise of superbugs. Experience with innovative concepts and technology will help students gain transferable skills so that they become more competitive. Bioprinting applications also cut across green technology like bioremediation, algal photosynthesis, and its future applications. Our current STEM class will scaffold off these concepts to explore algae as a biofuel. Activities around biomaterials, organ printing, bioencapsulation, and drug delivery are topics that will be incorporated into current courses including anatomy and physiology and chemistry. With the bioprinter, students will explore the design innovation process, prototyping, research projects, focused design projects, and overarching entrepreneurship in STEM fields. The two most important learning objectives are to challenge students to think outside of a box and to develop questions that they can research, investigate and design possible solutions, and to expose student to potential future career paths in biotechnology and biomedicine. In order for our students to be college and career ready they must be exposed to the technology that they will be using in those respective paths. Furthermore, it is essential that students learn how to take risks to problem solve, to be independent thinkers and to be part of the solution. With this technology students will be empowered to be a part of their learning and to go beyond the textbook to apply their learning to the natural world. In our changing world students need to be ready for jobs that don’t yet exist, and the only way to prepare for that is to teach them how to adapt, to be independent thinkers who can problem solve. 

Sanborn’s Principal Brian M. Stack had this to say about the award. “Over the last ten years, our school has been a leader in the movement towards personalized, competency-based learning. We continually seek out opportunities for our teachers to engage students in authentic, meaningful, and relevant learning tasks that allow them to transfer their learning in new ways. This award will help us do this with our students int he science classroom, and we are forever grateful to Toshiba America Foundation (TAF) for providing us this opportunity, and for Sanborn’s own Meghan Petruzzi for taking the initiative to bring this opportunity to our school.”

Toshiba America Foundation’s grants fund projects designed by individual classroom teachers. This “direct-to-teacher” approach brings immediate results. Teachers are able to change the way they teach Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) subjects because the grant supports equipment for hands-on experiments and inquiry-based approaches to the curriculum. At TAF, we believe that STEM is a lot more fun than just reading a textbook. TAF grants provide teachers with the tools they need to be more effective educators. The grants make the classroom a more exciting place for both teachers and students.